These moccasins, lined with sheepskin, are hard to beat in quality
Over-engineered and robust like all of their products, Saddleback Leather Co. hits this one out of the park
I've been impressed by these moccasins that Saddleback Leather Co. provided to me for review; for the entirety of the past week, I've worn these things every moment I've been getting the chance — day, night, indoors, outdoors, and even in the rain.
As someone that considers himself a "boot guy", I never thought too much about these higher end slipper-like products from companies making heritage gear.
The lower stance without a heel block, and the "daintiness" of a slipper or sandal has never appealed to me.
Until now, that is.
Since I already had reasons to avoid looking at slippers or sandals to begin with, the thought never occurred to me that I actually can like and enjoy a lighter-weight pair of shoes in a functional way (you don't know what you don't know, until you do).
Initially, I was enamored by Saddleback's officer boot, and still am, because it's more of my thing. But what I hadn't realized until I was offered to choose the moccasins is that the mocs are my thing too.
With their beautiful shearling-lined inners and boot-quality vegetable-tanned leather soles, the moment I took these moccasins out of the box, I knew: these are high quality shoes, not just a pair of casual slippers.
The appeal for natural materials is always there for me, including leather soles. While other types of soles might last longer, the upside to a leather sole? Its ability to form to the shape of your feet.
As you continue to wear these moccasins, they'll take on the shape of your foot — not only the parts that wrap around your foot, but the parts directly under your feet too: the fur and leather sole.
Watch my in-depth video review on these SBL mocs
From day 1 the moccasins will be comfy, but with compression from your weight, walking around, squatting, and going about your day as you typically would, these mocs will start morph and form around the grooves of your foot, creating a custom fit within a short time.
Certainly, cheaper and lower quality shoes and slippers might do the same thing, but they'll break down as you wear them, not break in.
A synthetic material that gets compressed, stretched, and put into the elements eventually starts to crack and harden. But a leather sole/footbed? It continues getting softer, becoming more pliable, and while it won't last forever, it will certainly last longer than plastic-based materials.
Plus, with these moccasins, you can actually resole them. Whether that's worth the price at your local cobbler or not is up to you to decide, since these shoes really only run about 150 USD. But the option is there, as they're made with a stitchdown construction, with a thoughtful shape for the soles that even catch your ankles from rolling.
This is just another high-quality product from Saddleback, nothing new, really. Sometimes when you've made a name for yourself doing what you do, the impressiveness comes from the fact that you're still doing that impressive thing today — and I'll always commend and respect Saddleback Lether Co. for that.
Buy these moccasins or the slipper variant here:
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